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Buffalo Bills quarterback EJ Manuel, right, gets a hug from his father, Eric Manuel Sr., after a 24-23 win over the Carolina Panthers in an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 15, 2013, in Orchard Park, N.Y. Manual's 2-yard pass with two seconds left in the game gave Manual his first win. (AP Photo/Bill Wippert)FR170745 AP

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Erik James Manuel Jr. had to improvise to come up with a birthday present for his father Sunday.

He thinks he did OK.

Standing at the podium at Ralph Wilson Stadium after leading the Bills to a 24-23 comeback win over the Carolina Panthers, Manuel held a football in his massive right hand.

"This football right here is his gift," he said of the game ball given to him by first-year Bills coach Doug Marrone. "I didn't have a gift. My dad's not big on gifts anyway. But I know he'll definitely want to take this home."

Someday, the 23-year-old rookie will tell his grandchildren about Sunday. He even said so after the game.

He faced adversity, some of it self-inflicted. He led a winning 2-minute drive with no timeouts and his dad in the stands. Afterward, he was greeted in the tunnel by Jim Kelly, who gave him a big hug that said, if not literally, at least figuratively, welcome to the club.

It was enough to bring the 6-foot 4-inch, 237-pound Manuel to tears. Twice. Once on the field after Stevie Johnson hauled in the 2-yard pass that won it. And again when embracing a franchise icon.

"I don't think I would have cried if we had just won by 14 (points)," Manuel said. "But I think the fashion (in which) we won, no timeouts, I mean, that's how you draw it up when you're outside playing with your buddies. ... To have it happen in the NFL, it doesn't get any better than that."

Sunday was electrifying. It was exhilarating. It was Hollywood-quality stuff, and Bills fans should soak it up and celebrate well into this week. Lord knows, they've been through enough misery.

But somebody has to throw a wet wash cloth on this, so here it is:

As great as Manuel was in the clutch Sunday -- and he was great -- the ink is barely dry on the first paragraphs of the first chapter in his story.

No less a pragmatist than Johnson reminded us of that on Sunday, cautioning, "I can't say this was the Super Bowl. The feeling was great. I can't lie ... but it's Week 2."

And Win 1, at least in the Manuel-Doug Marrone era, the latest pairing of player and coach Bills fans desperately hope will return the franchise to its glory days under Kelly.

It was fitting that on the same afternoon the Bills honored members of their Wall of Fame, Manuel recorded the first lines on a résumé that could someday put him up there with the likes of Kelly, Kent Hull, Bruce Smith and Thurman Thomas.

Someday.

Marrone acknowledged Sunday that part of the challenge in turning the Bills around is simply getting people to stop expecting the worst. That requires a belief system that hasn't been apparent in Buffalo since Marv Levy walked the sideline.

Sunday might have been a first step in that direction, and it's tempting to have those thoughts. But, as Marrone knows, there are many more steps to take.

"It's good to get the first one," Marrone said. "But I think one of the main things is when you talk about winning and you talk about changing the culture, you talk during the week about what you have to do, and you have to expect to win. I think that's one of the more important things, rather than being there and going, 'Oh, gosh, can you believe we won?' "

Manuel reminded reporters last week that he's not used to losing. He went 25-6 at Florida State and led the Seminoles to their first BCS bowl win since 2000.

Then his NFL career began with a last-second loss to the Patriots at home, followed by two critical late turnovers Sunday that nearly enabled the Panthers to escape with a win. But he bounced back, spectacularly, and people noticed.

"The one thing about him is that he's shown poise like that since he got here," running back Fred Jackson said of Manuel. "We had all the confidence in the world in him and he just proved us right."